Inspiring Students to Find their Path

By Qiaoying Joy Zhou, PhD
Department Chair/Professor
Math and Engineering Department

In a most recent District Leadership Team meeting “Great Places to Work,” the words “pride” and “recognition” were highlighted by multiple round tables. As educators, we feel a strong sense of “pride” when our students are doing wonderful things in their educational pursuits. Our students’ recognition does not fly from the sky, it takes hard work, perseverance, courage, determination, guidance, and intelligence. It is exciting and inspiring to hear successful stories from our students, near or far, current or former.

Our math faculty, Mat Roy, ran into a former student last week who took his Ready, Set, Go Precalculus pilot class in 2018. Her name is Anjelyka Fasci. She has completed a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering at UTSA and is now a proud PhD student. Anjelyka recognized the exceptional job that Mat has been doing inside and outside the classroom by sharing his expertise and knowledge with his students for a brighter future in their academic journey:

“I wanted to thank you for the class I took with you, I believe it was precalculus. The activity you had our class perform of searching for different career paths was incredibly pivotal for where I am today.

I graduated with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering at UTSA and am now a doctoral student in the Biomedical Engineering department. I’ve been published in journals, given poster and podium presentations based on my research and even worked under a Summer Faculty Fellowship Program with my PI (Principle Investigator) in the Air Force Research lab which led to my current internship with a government contractor collaborating with the AFRL on multiple research projects.

I just applied for a prestigious fellowship with the AFRL in which I discussed how your class in particular inspired me to change my career path.”

It is no secret that Mat genuinely cares about his students and takes their success to heart. He speaks highly of Anjelyka for her ability to research and unlimited potential in her educational adventure:

“When Anjelyka enrolled in my Ready, Set, Go Precalculus class in the Fall of 2018, she was still unsure about her major. Students in that class had to give a presentation about something related to mathematics that they found exciting or interesting. I will never forget Anjelyka’s presentation about genetics because it was so well researched and she was incredibly enthusiastic about her topic. Knowing that her time in my class helped shape the course of her life and her subsequent success in STEM has been the greatest gift I could ever receive.” To learn more about Anjelyka’s bio, please check out the website: https://mdi.lab.utsa.edu/personnel/1960/